Friday, January 16, 2009

"I am Bad at Estimating How Long Something Takes"

That is hogwash. Accountants are good at estimating the time it takes to complete tasks and projects. We have experience. At one time or another in our careers, we have been tied to a meticulous budget. Of course, for most, meeting a budget typically meant "miracle making"!

It really is not the time estimation that trips us up. What we are may times bad at ... estimating the time it takes to deal with distractions, interruptions, and the "switching time" costs of multi-tasking.

Tomorrow take a look at one small task you have to get done and before you do it, estimate how long it will take. Then just do it! I bet you will be pretty accurate. Is that because smaller, quicker tasks are easier to estimate? Maybe, but it is also because they are easier to get done in one fell swoop.

It is not the "estimating" part that is hard. It is the discipline to do what you plan to do next without interruptions and distractions.

No comments: